Brony conventions

[LauraJane 53]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm still new to this fandom, and have yet to watch a lot of the series (but it is wonderful!). Apologies if I am posting in the wrong forum but I wondered how frequent/popular are conventions? And what are they like?

 

I've never even been to comic con but I hear these places have a lot of MLP fans too. It would be interesting to go along someday

 

Thanks!

[MLG4Ever 876]

Brony cons are very popular and the prices for tickets are very high but it is very enjoy-able!

The most popular one is in Baltimore,MA (of course!) and PVL and Canterlot hill (formally Everfree Network) can't even liveStream that con anymore because of copyright stuff from documentaries for some reason!

[Leonard Smix 421]

Brony-Cons or EXTREMELY popular, and mildly frequent..

 

Recently, i think it just ended, BABScon had its time, and in August, BronyCon will be happening, but the list goes on to other cons.

 

If you havent seen a con experience.. here is a good video to watch.. a VLOG!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnp4LCJj9ng

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

What are you supposed to do at a brony con?

Go to random panels with VA's/community people

listen to DJs

buy merch

 

Sounds kinda boring to me tbh.

[Knight Hadron 372]

And it seems like the more mentally-disabled/socially insecure people go to the cons while smart people stay home. People who go to cons seem to have a specific personality type, be it comic cons or brony cons. Stereotypes, I know. Anyone care to disprove this?

[Yellow Diamond 7,575]

This thread appears to be related to the My Little Pony franchise and/or the Bronydom in general. Thus, it has been sentenced to Sugarcube Corner.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

They're popular in the brony fandom. I went to one (BABSCon) a couple of days ago and the bronies were out in numbers rocking their fangear, holding MLP plushes, and even cosplaying. There are vendors that sell merchandise and promote other conventions and some panels. There's even a video game room if you feel like playing video games. Also, brony conventions aren't the only conventions where bronies express their bronydom. BABSCon was a great experience because it's the safest place to express my bronydom.

[Suukorak 354]

What are you supposed to do at a brony con?

Go to random panels with VA's/community people

listen to DJs

buy merch

 

Sounds kinda boring to me tbh.

You forgot the most important part of all:

FRIENDSHIP.

I've been to two cons, of which one was awesome, and the other was meh (sorry Ponycon 2014). There were two differences.

1. Size. The larger one was better, because it had more variety of stuff to do. I still spent a lot of time between events, though, and with a few exceptions, I enjoyed myself more outside the events.

2. FRIENDSHIP. I talked to people at the good one a lot more. I ended up making three or four friends, and I'm now much closer to the whole core group!

 

And it seems like the more mentally-disabled/socially insecure people go to the cons while smart people stay home. People who go to cons seem to have a specific personality type, be it comic cons or brony cons. Stereotypes, I know. Anyone care to disprove this?

 

Are you asking for scientific proof? Or just a counterexample?

Also, can you be more specific on what personality type you mean?

Anyway, it would probably be harder to get a mentally disabled person to go to a convention than a healthy person. More generally, though, convention attendance weeds out two types:

1. People without any money. They're expensive, and unless you live in a big city, they're also an added expense for travel, hotels, etc.

2. People who are embarrassed or afraid. You'd think that the cons would be full of people desperate for any social interaction - but no, there are plenty of people there who are quite socially normal. Instead, they remove the people who don't want to (or can't) tell anyone, or who are embarrassed to talk about MLP, or who wouldn't be caught dead talking to bronies.

So that's that.

 

Finally, to respond to the original question:

Cons are almost as frequent as you're willing to travel, really. I went to one in February, and there was one this past weekend, and there's another in August... (those are all the ones I can think of right now, there are at least half a dozen others).

They're quite popular. There can be small ones, depending on where the con is held (and the brony density in that area), but the larger ones regularly pass a thousand people. BronyCon, the giant among brony conventions, might break 10,000 soon.

The point, though, is that they're tons of fun! Hope to see you at one someday.

[Knight Hadron 372]

Are you asking for scientific proof? Or just a counterexample?

Also, can you be more specific on what personality type you mean?

Anyway, it would probably be harder to get a mentally disabled person to go to a convention than a healthy person. More generally, though, convention attendance weeds out two types:

1. People without any money. They're expensive, and unless you live in a big city, they're also an added expense for travel, hotels, etc.

2. People who are embarrassed or afraid. You'd think that the cons would be full of people desperate for any social interaction - but no, there are plenty of people there who are quite socially normal. Instead, they remove the people who don't want to (or can't) tell anyone, or who are embarrassed to talk about MLP, or who wouldn't be caught dead talking to bronies.

So that's that.

I'm asking for some reasonable logic. Take a look at one of the brony documentaries, and the type of people and the way they act at the cons. They aren't always "mentally disabled" instead of "healthy" but they seem to be like....I don't know. Maybe I haven't come into contact with the attitudes of 20 year olds yet. I just see the stereotypical "bro pony" going to cons.

[Suukorak 354]

I'm asking for some reasonable logic. Take a look at one of the brony documentaries, and the type of people and the way they act at the cons. They aren't always "mentally disabled" instead of "healthy" but they seem to be like....I don't know. Maybe I haven't come into contact with the attitudes of 20 year olds yet. I just see the stereotypical "bro pony" going to cons.

All right. If you think of another description, let me know, but I'll do what I can with this. Of course, this won't apply to everyone - look hard enough and you will always find an exception, especially where human behavior is concerned. In fact, in this case I'm hoping for exceptions, because we want as many people as possible at the conventions. Also because there would be that many more friends to make. No brony left behind.

Basically, it comes down to bravery. I'll tell you, when I went to my first con, I was nervous. Very nervous. I was afraid people would judge me, or that I would be intruding on a group that had no time for newcomers. In fact, I was nervous enough that I didn't really take advantage of the con. Not much happened, which is probably why I didn't enjoy it that much. At my second convention, though, I had become much more comfortable with the community. I talked to people, made friends, etc., and had a real blast.

Now, I am shy, but I'm perfectly healthy mentally. Therefore, those with mental disabilities which hamper their social skills would have found it even harder to go (and would therefore attend less). Furthermore, even if they did go, if they were shy enough they wouldn't be able to enjoy it all that much, and it certainly wouldn't be worth the effort a second time.

So who would attend the conventions? The people most likely to go would be those who aren't embarrassed in the least by MLP. The outgoing ones, who reach out to whatever local community they can find as soon as they know it exists, and throw parties every Sunday for their brony friends.

Basically, in show terms: Many people like Fluttershy would be too scared to go, or even if they did, too scared to have a good time. Of course, they have nothing to fear, but that's not going to be enough to get them to go.

People like Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are going to be all over the conventions, with more moderate but large proportions of Rarities, Twilights, and Applejacks as well.

Not everyone falls into a Mane 6 personality type, but you get the idea.

Reasonable? Logical?

[Grepper 3,192]

I'm asking for some reasonable logic. Take a look at one of the brony documentaries, and the type of people and the way they act at the cons. They aren't always "mentally disabled" instead of "healthy" but they seem to be like....I don't know. Maybe I haven't come into contact with the attitudes of 20 year olds yet. I just see the stereotypical "bro pony" going to cons.

 

Are you speaking of group hugs and group singing? If you are, yes it does seem a bit strange.  

(I have never been to a con; my situation doesn't allow it.)

[Suukorak 354]

Are you speaking of group hugs and group singing? If you are, yes it does seem a bit strange.

(I have never been to a con; my situation doesn't allow it.)

Group singing is fun! If you've ever sung along to one of the songs, it's even better in a group. A little like playing in a band/orchestra, for all the musical energy.

Unless people lose their place. Then it just gets messy.

Group hugs are maybe a little strange, but they're mostly harmless. And if we're not worried about the strangeness being a brony implies, a group hug is nothing. But hey! We've all got a few strange quarks along with the ups and downs.

(Sorry for the horrible quantum joke).

[Grepper 3,192]

Group singing is fun! If you've ever sung along to one of the songs, it's even better in a group. A little like playing in a band/orchestra, for all the musical energy.

Unless people lose their place. Then it just gets messy.

Group hugs are maybe a little strange, but they're mostly harmless. And if we're not worried about the strangeness being a brony implies, a group hug is nothing. But hey! We've all got a few strange quarks along with the ups and downs.

(Sorry for the horrible quantum joke).

 

I didn't say it was bad, but maybe that's not what you're implying. I just think the group hugs are a bit cheesy, but it may feel different when you are at a con (I've never met any bronies IRL, so I don't know how we act around one another IRL.)

[Suukorak 354]

I didn't say it was bad, but maybe that's not what you're implying. I just think the group hugs are a bit cheesy, but it may feel different when you are at a con (I've never met any bronies IRL, so I don't know how we act around one another IRL.)

Ah. It feels a little cheesy at first, but that doesn't mean it's insincere. The emotion's really there, and you can feel it. We're all one big family, especially at the conventions.

[Eloquence 2,076]

I've never been to a brony/pony convention, but I've been to a few other conventions before. All types can be found, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a con where no one cosplays as an MLP character. Sure, some people are odd, some aren't nice, but that's the real world for you, not everyone is pleasant to be around. Overall though, I find cons to be very pleasant experiences, even if they're also rather expensive ones...

 

 

And it seems like the more mentally-disabled/socially insecure people go to the cons while smart people stay home. People who go to cons seem to have a specific personality type, be it comic cons or brony cons. Stereotypes, I know. Anyone care to disprove this?

 

As for this, well, I have both mental and social disorders, and I go to cons. I'm also very smart though, and I don't stay home, so I guess that's a mark for and against your theory. Like I said, all kinds of people go to conventions. If you're looking for people to prove or disprove though, you probably shouldn't have a question that contradicts itself. People with mental and social issues can be very intelligent, I should know 

[Suukorak 354]

 

 

I've never been to a brony/pony convention, but I've been to a few other conventions before. All types can be found, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a con where no one cosplays as an MLP character. Sure, some people are odd, some aren't nice, but that's the real world for you, not everyone is pleasant to be around. Overall though, I find cons to be very pleasant experiences, even if they're also rather expensive ones...

The nice thing about brony conventions in particular is that you have to look really hard to find mean people. Also there are some really-super-awesome cosplays you get to witness. 

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

And it seems like the more mentally-disabled/socially insecure people go to the cons while smart people stay home. People who go to cons seem to have a specific personality type, be it comic cons or brony cons. Stereotypes, I know. Anyone care to disprove this?

Yeah they always seem to have issues. I haven't seen any normal types go to cons.

[Sapphire Lightning 784]

We've all got a few strange quarks along with the ups and downs.

(Sorry for the horrible quantum joke).

I observed what you did there.

 

On another note: I wish I could attend a brony convention, but unless I start making a bit more money or one pops up in Mane, not likely to happen. Le sigh.

[Knight Hadron 372]

But hey! We've all got a few strange quarks along with the ups and downs.

(Sorry for the horrible quantum joke).

Don't be sorry, my name itself is one big quantum joke.

 

On topic, I understand your post. It was concise and clear. However, as you didn't have a good discription to go off of because I couldn't express my question, you ended up answering the wrong question, but ended up giving a good enough answer to the wrong question to answer my question. If that makes any sense. Thanks for answering my question.

[Suukorak 354]

Don't be sorry, my name itself is one big quantum joke.

 

On topic, I understand your post. It was concise and clear. However, as you didn't have a good discription to go off of because I couldn't express my question, you ended up answering the wrong question, but ended up giving a good enough answer to the wrong question to answer my question. If that makes any sense. Thanks for answering my question.

It makes enough sense. As Niels Bohr once said, truth is the quantum complement of clarity.

 

Do you joust at CERN, I wonder?

[Knight Hadron 372]

It makes enough sense. As Niels Bohr once said, truth is the quantum complement of clarity.

 

Do you joust at CERN, I wonder?

Yes, I do. However, I usually am put beyond my strength and therefore get broken apart; I don't usually win the jousts.

 

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it. ~ Niels Bohr

 

That just means that I, as a large hadron, have to think differently to get around this swarm of particles with high energies. Where there is a will (and a change in thinking) there is a way.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Knight Hadron